No more political events at Uhuru, Central parks: CS Duale

The newly-renovated Uhuru and Central parks near the Nairobi city centre will no longer host political rallies, Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale told the Senate on Wednesday.

The recreational parks were closed to the public in March 2022 to pave the way for restoration by the Kenya Defence Forces and the now-defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services.

Updating senators on the renovation status, Duale said the park, once reopened at a yet-to-be-confirmed date, will be out of bounds for political events.

“That park will never again be used by politicians to address rallies; it is out of bounds. The political class will look for another venue. Uhuru and Central parks belong to Kenyans,” the defence minister said.

Duale said among the facelift work military officers gave the parks are rehabilitating green spaces, restoring the monuments, improving infrastructure and enhancing security through fencing and installation of a visitors management system.

He however said the revamp is not complete yet, citing water and drainage connections still to be finalised.

According to the minister, his ministry is working with the Nairobi County Government to install the water connections.

“The construction work at Uhuru Park is practically complete as per the contract, however, we have 8 per cent pending works. We are signing an MoU with the County Government of Nairobi and in less than three weeks, they will fix them,” Duale said.

“We were waiting for the construction of the main drainage along Uhuru Highway by the Kenya National Highways Authority (KENHA). KENHA has assured that construction will be completed soon.”